Athalie
Athalie
1691 tragedy by Racine
Athalie ([a.ta.li], sometimes translated Athalia) is a 1691 play, the final tragedy of Jean Racine, and has been described as the masterpiece[1][2] of "one of the greatest literary artists known"[3] and the "ripest work" of Racine's genius.[4] Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve deemed it comparable to Oedipus Rex in beauty, with "the true God added."[5] August Wilhelm Schlegel thought Athalie to be "animated by divine breath";[4] other critics have regarded the poetics of drama in the play to be superior to those of Aristotle.[5]